I volunteer too -- Elly, NO!
by RudeMinnesotan
Summary: Series: Unhinged; Agent of Chaos. Peeta Mellark's little brother loved him more than anything else in the world and Eldritch Mellark would do anything to protect his big brother. Anything. Like, take on the Hunger Games. Eagerly, even, what with Elly's 'unnaturalness' giving him an edge. But that's what you get when you let an Eldritch Being play murder games with kids. GEN.


**Chapter 1 - Eldritch Being**

**Disclaimer: Nothing is mine.**

**AN: Don't take this too seriously. I don't. *Follow The Bouncing Muse.***

**Beta'd by Scarletdewdrops. **

... ... …

* * *

What most people don't know is that Peeta Mellark's full name is Preternatural Mellark.

What everybody knows is that Peeta Mellark has a younger brother named Eldritch Mellark.

And unlike Peeta, Elly lived up to his name.

… … …

* * *

Everyone in District 12 knew to stay away from Elly Mellark. They knew, even more, to stay away from Peeta Mellark. No one dared to tease or make fun of Peeta within Elly's hearing.

Because Elly was eldritch and Elly could do preternatural things...

…

"Hey, stop picking on my big brother!" The 5-year-old Elly declared, stepping in front of his older brother Peeta.

"Elly, no!" Peeta stated, slapping a hand over his face.

"What are you going to do about it, Pipsqueak?" One of the boys said, reaching forward to push Elly. But he couldn't. Trying to push Elly was a bit like trying to push a mountain.

The corner of Elly's mouth twitched up as he announced, "My turn," and just waved his hand at the boy. The boy flew through the air, the depths of his shadow stretched to the extreme between the two before snapping back when the boy hit the wall of the school building.

The wall that was a good 70 meters away.

Peeta's mouth dropped open. So did the other boys. Then they screamed and fled. Peeta sighed, took his brother by the shoulders, and started to march him back home. "Elly, no. Don't do that again. No using powers to dominate unfair fights."

"Okay, Peeta," singsonged Elly in response. Of course, he was lying. He'd do it again in a heartbeat for his big brother.

…

"We're a little low on meat this month…" Dad was saying to Tom and Dick, the two eldest brothers. "We can do a trade with Mrs. Everdeen, but I want you two to do it for me. Your mom…"

"We know, Dad," Tom said.

"I CAN HELP!" Elly shouted and he ran out of the house.

"Elly, no!" Dad yelled in response. "Tom, go after him."

Tom nodded, "Okay!" Then he bolted from their house. He managed to catch the tail end of a dark shape vaulting over the fence between the District and the forest beyond. "Elly, no!" Tom screamed, slapping his hands to his cheeks. "Oh, god, no." That was it. He would never see his little 8-year-old brother again.

He went back to the house to explain this to his father.

It was a shock when, two hours later, Elly showed up dragging the corpse of a deer with him. "I did it," claimed the small boy, blood splattered on the side of his face-probably from the unnaturally large hole in the side of the animal's neck.

How did that tiny slip of a boy drag that thing all the way from the wilderness? Not to mention get it over the fence?

…

"Look," Elly declared his voice void of emotions. In his hand was some weird creature. It was black, had a single eye, and its mouth dripped red with what was probably blood from hundreds of razor-sharp fangs.

Tom glanced up from where he was kneading dough and shook his head. "Elly, no. Put that back where you found it."

The 4-year-old sighed and held out his hand. Tom watched as the shadows that always seemed to writhe around his brother actually shot up from his feet and swallowed up the creature. For a sliver of a second, he was afraid of his brother. Then he shook it off; maybe he was daydreaming from working too hard...

…

"DICK!" The baker's wife shouted, startling the brothers from where they were trying to do school homework. "The bread is done. Get it out of the oven!"

"Okay, ma!" Dick yelled in return, but not before a black blur sped past him towards the store's main kitchen.

"I can do that!" said the blur and Dick lunged after his brother.

"Elly, NO!"

But it was too late. Elly grabbed the bread tray from the oven… barehanded.

"What?" The unburned child asked, all of 6-years-old, and full of curiosity.

…

"ELLY, NO!" Tom was shouting this time, watching his dark-haired, littlest brother scale a tree.

"It's okay, Tom," the name was said with the strangest giggle-it always was, as if the toddler had a joke that no one else understood, "I can do it!"

When the branch broke, Tom expected to see his brother fall to his death, but instead, he looked up and saw the trunk of the tree had stretched out to wrap around Elly's waist, keeping him safe.

…

Yes, Elly was eldritch and Elly could do preternatural things

But only those in District 12 knew that.

When it came time for the reaping of the 74th Hunger Games, no one could have expected what happened.

… … ...

* * *

"As usual, Ladies first!"

…

"I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE!"

…

"Our first-ever volunteer from District 12!"

…

"I bet that was your sister…"

…

"And now, for the boys." The paper was drawn. Opened. "Peeta Mellark."

The entire crowd drew a gasp. Shadows seemed to be drawn towards one being who stood in the front with the younger boys, though with a curious gap around him when everyone else was shoulder-to-shoulder.

"Is that? Peeta? Come up here!" Effie tried to usher the boy that everyone was paying attention to forward, but a boy in the back finally took in a shaky breath.

Just as Peeta was about to step forward and become the male tribute for District 12, the boy in the front, whose hair was moving on its own-or was it just windy?-called out, "I volunteer as Tribute… too." The boy, who appeared too small to even be amongst those chosen, began to giggle.

The sound echoed in the square.

Peeta finally found his voice, "Elly, no!" he shouted, no doubt about to volunteer himself to force a draw between them but was frozen in place by his younger brother's eldritch powers.

"Brother mine," Elly turned and smiled, eyes curled up and smiling along with him, "I will protect you. Just like Katniss wishes to protect dear little Prim."

Effie blustered on stage before wiggling her fingers and getting the guards to usher up the second volunteer. "Astounding, two! Two volunteers from District 12." She laughed lightly, "One might think we were in the wrong District~" Her sing-songy voice fell flat while everyone stared in horror.

As he was escorted up the main aisle, peacekeepers standing a little further off than they usually would, whispers followed Elly to the stage.

"The eldritch being…"

"We're better off this way…"

"He'll kill them all…"

Back in the Capitol, the cameras trying to focus on the boy crackled-unable to keep a steady feed on him.

"Well, young man, what is your name?"

"Elly Mellark. And yes, Peeta is my big brother." Elly turned his smile onto Effie who physically flinched at being in such close proximity to the boy but her smile never faltered. Something to be said about Effie's poker face. Or maybe the crazy elective surgeries the Capitol has come up with. Maybe she was programmed to be incapable of unflattering expressions?

"Wow! Such dedication between siblings in District 12!" Effie clapped her gloved hands together a few times and then forced the two tributes to shake hands. Katniss, for all her bravery, had trouble taking his hand.

He just smiled up at her and took her hand for the shake.

… … …

* * *

Peeta was the only one waiting for Elly in the goodbye room. As if their mom would come. Their dad and older brothers hadn't bothered to come to the reaping because they figured that the two of them would never get chosen since their names were barely in the running.

Oh, the irony.

"Elly, you stupid boy!" Peeta gathered his younger brother up in a tight hug once Elly came into the room, squeezing him for all he was worth.

"Calm down, you sound like Mom." Elly hadn't stopped smiling, but at the moment it seemed more… real. Especially as he hugged his favored older brother back.

Peeta groaned, burying his head in Elly's abnormal black hair. "I can't believe you volunteered!" The baker's son hissed, holding back tears of frustration.

"Of course, I did," Elly replied, calming Peeta in a very backward way of support. "I will always protect you, brother mine."

Once more, Peeta groaned and called his brother a stupid boy. Just in time for their time to be up. A peacekeeper almost had to pry him away from his brother.

Elly just patted Peeta on the hand patiently in a way that would be condescending to anyone else and told him, "Don't worry!"

When Elly's father came in next, the boy was visibly stunned. But, after sharing a short moment, they hugged and Elly was left to nibble on some cookies.

No one else came after that and he wasn't surprised at all. The boy who used to be Harry Potter was left alone, one hand clutching the necklace that he always wore, and the other holding the cookies.

… … …

* * *

Harry, or Elly, both names were accurate in the end, highly enjoyed the train ride to the Capitol.

When Katniss started to eat with horrendous table manners, he followed suit. He even thought about forgoing his shoes in some kind of rebellion but realized that clothing was probably a good thing in the end. Besides, his shirts helped hide his trump card. Or token. Whatever.

Katniss was clearly stressed, worrying about the impending doom of the Hunger Games, but Elly had been so excited that he was finally old enough to be reaped. He wanted this. This was where he was meant to be, meant to go. He knew that the second he'd been born in this life.

Now he had a chance and he could even save his favorite brother's crush!

Happy days!

When Haymitch declared that they should 'accept the inevitability of their imminent demise' and then proceeded to fall into a pile of his own vomit, the pair of tributes dealt with him together. They were silent the entire time until Katniss moved to leave. Elly made sure to follow.

"Don't worry," the 12-year-old said to her, "I can save us both." And he smiled at her, hand latched around her wrist. The shadows at his feet dance with his proclamation.

Katniss, courage lost once more in the face of this eldritch being and caught between flight or fight, reacted with a haphazard mixture of both and ripped her hand away. "I can save myself," she said before stalking off to her room.

Harry was left pouting. But his saving people thing…! Even after so many lifetimes, he still clung to that!

… … …

* * *

The food on this train was so delicious. Elly was in heaven. He was oddly-or, maybe not so much-reminded of Hogwarts. It had been sooo long since he'd lived that life, that small recollections like this were treasured.

It was probably those memories, pulled to the surface by a good meal, that prompted the next words out of Elly's mouth.

"So are we going to meet the Dark Lord?"

The tone of his voice was entirely innocent, so Harry was very surprised at the reaction he got.

Haymitch nearly did a spit take-which caused Harry to giggle-and Katniss dropped her jaw.

Effie's reaction was the best though. Her spoon fell with such a loud clatter, especially when she tried to reach out and grab it and just made a mess, knocking over her teacup.

That really sent Elly going, covering his mouth with both hands.

"The… The Dark Lord, dear? Who ever could you mean?" The heavily made-up woman tittered, patting at the spilt tea with a napkin. Haymitch was doing the same to himself, though he seemed to figure it out first and was chuckling softly.

"You know," Harry said behind his hands, mischief twinkling in his eyes. He dropped his hands so the next words would ring loud and clear in the train car, "The Dark Lord."

How Effie managed to clatter her teacup once again, making another mess after having barely cleaned up the last one… The pre-teen just laughed some more.

"Do you mean…?" Haymitch began, more hungover than drunk at the moment since it was morning, giving Elly a look.

Harry just _beamed_ at the man. "Of course. The Dark Lord is President Snow." His voice proclaimed they were all stupid for not understanding it immediately.

Effie actually broke her teacup that time.

"Elly, no," the woman reprimanded with such force it actually sent her wig askew. It was impressive. Better than his mom. Heck, better than any of his brothers. Except Peeta. But Peeta was special.

(Tom was actually the one who said it the most, ironically enough, but Harry just couldn't take his eldest brother seriously. Everything about him was different, but… … Tom! Hah!)

The Capitol Escort was still talking, so Harry made sure to tune back in, "... can't go around calling people the Dark Lord, especially President Snow! You have no idea what he is capable of-what he could do to you before the Games even begin."

She was blinking so rapidly that Elly was worried that her eyelashes would flutter right off her face-he took a moment to picture it… and smiled at her. It wasn't a nice smile. Definitely more in the creepy range.

It shut her up.

Surprisingly, it was Katniss who broke the silence. "Do you really call him The Dark Lord?"

… … …

* * *

Elly was shocked when Haymitch actually hit him. Shocked! And kind of pleased. Especially when Katniss came to his defense. All Elly had done was knock the bottle of alcohol out of the man's hands. Using his powers. From across the room. And Haymitch stalked over and backhanded him! It's not like the man could really punch a diminutive 12-year-old, could he? Harry rubbed at his jaw, lip actually split from the man's actions.

"Well, you're not entirely hopeless," Haymitch said, flicking the knife that Katniss had embedded into the wall when she defended Elly. "Though you're definitely a runt, Elly."

"Thank you," the boy replied, ever cheerful in the face of everything.

"It wasn't a compliment. Katniss, you will be attractive enough once the stylists are through with you… and I suppose Elly could be considered cute."

"Awww, I have been told I am adorable!"

"By who?" whispered Katniss in disbelief before turning to Haymitch, "Nevermind. I don't trust you. I can't trust you to help me win."

"Us," corrected Elly.

"There's never been two winners before." Katniss and Haymitch both argued with the ease of repetition before the former glared at the latter.

And Harry just grinned. "The impossible always happens around me." The way his hair danced to a wind of its own seemed testament enough.

Haymitch looked uncertain. "Look, I can help you win. If you stop interfering with my drinking, I'll help you … both… win."

"Done!" Elly chirped, agreeing to Haymitch's obvious lie with a bounce and then turned to Katniss. "Right?"

Unsure, the girl looked between the two and then noted Elly's shadows making 'gimme' hands and nodded. Probably to preserve her sanity. Obviously drunk, Haymitch nodded too and told them about the stylists, then left.

"This is going to be fun," the young boy declared with relish.

… … …

* * *

"There they are!" one of the announcers said, the camera focusing on them and then down to the tributes as the chariots worked their way into the hall.

"Gives you goosebumps."

"And don't you love how the stylists…"

Then… "What is that… In the background?"

Elly couldn't contain himself. Fire without magic. His grin, his eyes, his cute as a button face were a sight to behold next to the nearly stoic Katniss. He grasped her hand and held it up, laughing as he did. His ever-present shadows actually made the flames stand out more, flaring with his excitement. The fire did as well, drawing even more attention onto them.

Katniss, unfortunately, had no choice but to go along with the young boy and simply keep her discomfort off her face as best she could, even after being smacked in the face with a thrown rose while she was distracted.

The crowd ate it up.

"Tributes… We welcome you." The president began to speak. Harry looked up to the man, standing above them all, and narrowed his eyes. He glanced at Katniss and saw her expression and knew. This was why he was here.

"And may the odds be ever in your favor…" He whispered along with the president, hardly able to hide his devilish little smirk.

… … …

* * *

On Training Day, Elly talked up Katniss' skills to Haymitch, downplaying his own skills-which are nonexistent, despite the energy that writhed around him-and Katniss actually blushed at the boy's praise.

"What are you doing?" she asked suspiciously.

"Telling the truth," Elly enthused, "You're amazing, Katniss!"

She looked away and Elly scoffed. Haymitch drew both their attention and told them to downplay any skills they do have to the other tributes and to save showing off for the private sessions.

Unsurprisingly, Elly bonded with Rue during training-probably because they're the two youngest. Katniss didn't like it. They're both _too _young, even if Elly was super creepy.

Katniss' private session went as expected.

Elly's not so much.

No one was willing to ask him about it. Elly just smiled.

When their scores were revealed, the boy was happy to receive his 6. Katniss was shocked by her 11.

… … …

* * *

Everyone loved Katniss during her interview, despite her nerves beforehand. Elly's interview though…

"Another District 12 volunteer!" Caesar said as he greeted the young Elly onto the stage. He shook the man's hand, smiling in that way of his-thankfully the Capitol found him utterly adorable. "Elly! Welcome! Tell us, what do you think of the Capitol? And be honest."

"Oh… It's very big." He giggled, sounding like a tinkling fairy rather than evil incarnate like those in District 12 thought of him. "I like it a lot."

Caesar and the crowd laughed. "Big? Well, I suppose, compared to District 12! So, Elly, is that your real name or a nickname?"

If possible, the boy's smile grew to an impossible width. "Oh, it's just my nickname."

The crowd made a noise of intrigue-curious now.

"Oh? What is your real name then?" Caesar asked for everyone's benefit.

How did his smile get to be so large? "It's an interesting thing… see, my father named my two oldest brothers. Boring names. Tom. Dick," the crowd laughed again as Harry waved his hand, completely aware of the irony in regards to himself, "So my mother named Peeta and me."

"Is Peeta a nickname as well?"

Harry nodded with excitement, hand aching to hold the necklace he wore under his black, fire-based outfit. "Peeta is a nickname for Preternatural. And my name is Eldritch."

The crowd was silent. Caesar faltered for half of a second, but he was much too good at his job. "Wow! Those are certainly unique names."

"Mother tried to appear well-read," was Elly's defense, giggling as he did. A few members of the audience giggled too, but it was an unsure laughter.

So, Caesar quickly changed the topic! "Tell us, why did you volunteer for your brother? Were you moved by what Katniss did for her sister?"

"In a way," Harry demurred, settling on the edge of his chair so that he could kick his legs childishly. "Like Katniss, I would do anything for my beloved brother. He's my favorite."

The audience all 'aww'd' together, earlier discomfort completely lost with the successful shift in topics.

"But," the boy continued, looking at the ground and then up to Caesar with big, big eyes. "I came because I knew I had to save Katniss."

"Save Katniss?" Caesar was shocked, and the audience gasped with him. "Why so, my boy?"

"You see," Elly twisted his hands, the picture of adorable hesitation. "My brother… He loves Katniss ever so much… I came to save her for him."

Katniss was shocked. The cameras quickly showed her genuine reaction. The audience cooed. Caesar took a moment before replying, "Oh… Well, I wish you the best of luck."

"Thanks, Caesar!" The boy chirped, not all put down by what everyone assumed would be his eventual passing. "But I don't need luck."

The camera began to crackle then, the lights on the stage flickering a bit. Harry hopped from his chair and bowed to the audience as the lights came back to normal and he flounced from the stage.

Katniss was not happy to hear about Peeta's crush, but Elly brushed her off. Haymitch helped explain the situation, but the girl just wouldn't listen.

… … …

* * *

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Let the 74th Hunger Games BEGIN!"

Katniss ran. The other tributes ran too. Elly stayed on his pedestal. Any camera that focused on the young boy from District 12 seemed to short circuit.

Amidst the chaos and death, the boy vanished.

… … …

* * *

The cameras followed the path of a boy from District 7. He was alone, hunting for something to eat. The crowd tittered as he slipped on some rocks.

Then the camera went fuzzy for a moment and everyone began to pay attention.

"Who's there?" The near-teen called out, slashing his knife at an invisible enemy. "Come out!"

The only response was giggling. Then the cameras blacked out.

In the control room, a man was shouting in frustration. "Get those cameras back up!"

"We can't, sir, we've tried everything!"

It didn't help that they still had an audio feed.

"No. No OH GOD NO!" A terrible sound filtered through the dark camera, the crew members in the control room were frozen and the few who'd gained enough sense to try were unable to get it off of the TVs that everyone was viewing. It was a sound that they all recognized: meat being torn apart. One man gagged and almost lost his lunch.

Several audience members did.

The tearing sound was followed by what sounded like several liters of water spilling over the rocks. The camera slowly flickered back to life and what they could see was…

Well, there was actually quite a lot to see. All washed in various shades of red; an arm there, a foot there, and an ear swaying slightly where it'd hooked on a small branch. Blood was literally everywhere. The original color of that part of the arena was completely covered.

A random camera operator thought, 'So that's what a healthy liver looks like…'

As the cannon fired, one woman in the control room was able to switch the view to Katniss, stumbling down a muddy path to a pond. The audience, perfectly diverted, forgot the bloody death that they had heard but not seen and its gruesome aftermath.

… … …

* * *

There were several deaths like the boy from District 7. Always with the camera not working. Always with the sound coming out properly. Always with ridiculous giggling.

Once, not long after the tracker jackers nearly got Katniss-it had been amazing how, even in such close proximity, they didn't bite her once- the cameras were finally able to catch a glimpse of Harry.

A female tribute was trying to sneak up on the Girl on Fire, but there was Elly, wrapped in shadows. They twisted around him as if other limbs; secondary-third-fourth? Multiple eyes appeared and disappeared amongst them as he watched the girl try to hurt the savior of this universe.

Harry wouldn't-couldn't!- allow that.

The cameras, and audience, were able to see just enough of a shadow snaking out to grab the girl by the ankle, before blacking out like all the times before. Katniss eventually turned around, the cameras still able to see her despite there only being barely 20 meters between her and Elly.

Once she made eye contact with the baker's son, the teen slipped and fell from shock.

"Elly, no," the words slipped out as if she couldn't help uttering them.

At last, there was a full and clear shot of the boy… covered in blood.

There was no one else there.

"I told you I would protect you, Katniss. I won't let you down."

Then he smiled. It was too large. Too big. Too many teeth.

Watching the way Katniss' eyes dilated in fear brought the audience to the edge of their seats-was this finally the end of the District 12 underdogs!? Their alliance!?

But, sadly, no. Elly didn't drop his smile as he turned away from her and let the shadows whisk him off to another part of the arena.

Katniss wasn't sure, at that moment, what was more terrifying.

Elly.

Or the fact that the cannon for the girl who just died went off NOW.

… … …

* * *

Eventually, there were only four left. The Games had been going by a lot faster than usual. Claudius' declaration about two winners from the same district was completely expected. It was Harry's impossible luck at play.

Harry was kind of glad he didn't have to kill Rue, though. He liked the girl and was sad she died. But he couldn't save everyone. He was sad about all the people he had killed in the Games. But, whatever.

He wasn't actually all that sad.

He stood near the Cornucopia and watched as that boy from District 10 was killed by the one from District 1-Harry never bothered to learn their names, or if those were even the correct Districts-and then Katniss killed the boy from District 1. He allowed the shadows to reveal him then, perfectly clean, startling the Girl on Fire to notch an arrow in his direction.

"Oh. Elly." She lowered her arm. He smiled at her.

"We did it!" Elly flew at her and wrapped his arms around her waist in a tight hug. "We are the last two! We won!"

Katniss blinked wide in surprise at his hug, then her features softened. "We did it," she replied, returning his hug, ignoring the last two cannons going off.

Then, "...the earlier revisions have been revoked! … Only one victor may be allowed!"

Harry's face fell. Of course. And there was the other side of Harry's impossible luck.

"Katniss. It has to be you."

"What, no! They can't do this! I won't do it!"

"Then I'll do it myself." He quickly took the knife she had and with absolutely no hesitation, he plunged it into himself.

Katniss gasped as he did, lunging forward to catch him as he started to fall.

"ELLY! NO!"

The audience gasped with her, sad that the adorable little boy from 12 wouldn't survive.

"Don't worry, Katniss." Harry coughed a bit, tasting blood on his lips. "Please. Be nice to my brother. He really does love you." His body shook as he reached up to touch the necklace that he was allowed to wear as his token. "Take… Take this to Peeta for me…" His blood smeared over the triangle, onto the circle the rested inside of it-and was bisected by a straight line.

"No, no, I don't want to win like this." Katniss was crying. This boy, this creepy, eldritch boy, just killed himself for her!?

"Please," the boy coughed once more… and the cannon went off.

… … …

* * *

YOU'RE QUITE CRUEL, MASTER.

Harry turned to smile at Death, body that of his 17-year-old self-the first one he died with.

"I know," he replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Wasn't it a lovely, dramatic end? I did was I was supposed to do. Katniss won, and she will go on to fix their whole system. And have babies with Peeta when she stops being wishy-washy about… what was the other guy's name… Eh, doesn't matter. Peeta doesn't get tortured. Happy ending for all!"

Death was silent in response.

"So," His eyes gleamed, excited in the face of yet another rebirth. "Where to next?"

… … …

* * *

**AN: This all started because I wanted to name a pair of twins Preternatural and Eldritch. I love the idea of naming a kid Eldritch lol. Dunno why. Probably because I'm weird. Anyway. So, my first draft of this one-shot was written while in a fever dream, TBH. It took about two weeks of editing between my beta and I to make it amazing. A lot of the additional scenes (Elly's childhood, the Dark Lord bit) were her ideas. She actually watched the whole movie for me to help me! 3 Best Beta Ever. **


End file.
